Previous SFF Author: Dave Bara
(1965- )
James Barclay grew up in Suffolk and studied communications and acting. He lives with his wife and son in a town southwest of London. You can read excerpts of James Barclay‘s novels at his website.
Dawnthief is the first book in James Barclay‘s CHRONICLES OF THE RAVEN trilogy (followed by Noonshade and Nightchild). In addition to the trilogy, the author also published four LEGENDS OF THE RAVEN novels and one Raven novella, as well as two ASCENDANTS OF ESTORIA novels and the stand-alone Vault of Deeds. Dawnthief was James Barclay‘s first published work in 1999 and,
Stefan Raets´s rating: 2.5 | James Barclay | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Noonshade is the second book in the CHRONICLES OF THE RAVEN series by British fantasy author James Barclay. At the end of trilogy opener Dawnthief, the legendary group of mercenaries known as the Raven managed to destroy the Wytchlords and save the world of Balaia by casting the powerful Dawnthief spell, but as a side effect of the spell, a magical rift appeared in the sky above Parve.
Very early on in Noonshade,
Stefan Raets´s rating: 2.5 | James Barclay | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Nightchild is officially the third book in the CHRONICLES OF THE RAVEN trilogy by British fantasy author James Barclay, but it feels like a completely separate novel from Dawnthief and Nightchild, which were so strongly connected that they could have been published as one long story, with book 2 picking up right where book 1 left off. Nightchild, by contrast, starts 5 years after the end of the previous book,
Stefan Raets´s rating: 3 | James Barclay | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Elfsorrow is the first book in The Legends of the Raven, James Barclay’s second series about a group of mercenaries called the Raven. If you have not read the previous series, The Chronicles of the Raven, you are going to end up guessing at much of what is going on. If I had it to do over again, I would have read the previous series first; based on all the information that I had to figure out from context,
John Hulet´s rating: 3.5 | James Barclay | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Vault of Deeds by James Barclay
Vault of Deeds proved to be a funny read as James Barclay plays on heroic fantasy conventions, not unlike Jim C. Hines or A. Lee Martinez. In this novella, it’s up to a scribe — in this case someone who records the deeds of heroes — to save the day.
Barclay’s writing is easy to get into but goes beyond simply being functional or serviceable. Dialogue and action are frequently utilized to draw the readers in, and comedy is provided by the verbose and exaggerated prose spoken by the protagonists.
Charles Tan (GUEST)´s rating: 3 | James Barclay | Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Previous SFF Author: Dave Bara
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…
Detailed, thoughtful review, Bill. I'm going to read it for two reasons. First, Karen Russell wrote it, and second, it…
this sounds like a fun one